The Rise of the Lunar Rebellion
by GodTierBronyGeek
Summary: As Equestria falls into the heart of war, Twilight Sparkle must find who she believes in and save the land of Equestria from a vicious tyrant.  /Critiques and Reviews are always lovely/
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

A mother horse was endowed with a large sum of power by Gods, a magic powerful enough to create a world and ponies to live in it as she grew ill in the final days of her pregnancy. Her heart weak, but tender decided she did not want her children to be lonely and knew they were destined for greatness. She created them a planet to rule, and a land called Equestria, where ponies would be their faithful servants and members of the glorious kingdom they would soon inherit. She gave birth to two lovely fillies and passed away with the birth of her younger child. Before her final breathe she decided that until the fillies grew strong enough to inherit the kingdom she had created for them, her most trusted colleague, Discord would be granted permission to run the kingdom. He took the position and at first ran the kingdom with love and compassion, treating everyone as equals. However as the two young sisters grew older, he grew lonely and fell in love with the oldest sister who was incredibly beautiful, but she snarled at his emotions because he was not an attractive creature, in fact he was quite a spawn of chaos.

His anger towards the sister leads him to become a violent tyrant, causing an economic crisis of a formerly communist republic run by the once gracious Discord. This produced the rise of a monarchy, in which the two sisters named Celestia and Luna (the youngest filly) stepped up to run the land of Equestria. This was known as the "War of Harmony" in which the elements of harmony, a powerful magical force, were used by both sisters to defeat the mighty Discord in the final battle of the 6 year war. In order to honor the 6 years in which ponies had sacrificed themselves in the mass bloodshed for the mission, to save Equestria, the sisters preformed a memorial ceremony in which they split the Elements into 6 different pieces, and gave a symbolic meaning to each year of the war, enchanting to Elements with said meaning ("Kindness" towards their colleagues, "Honesty" to where no secrets were kept from each member of the force, "Generosity" on the cold nights when they would share the little warmth and food they had, "Loyalty" towards each other and also for their republic, "Laughter" for the joy and positivity given to each other to provide happiness on the long cold nights, and "Magic" which fueled the kingdom and flowed through the sisters in the rebellion causing an almost infinite amount of power for the republic.) They built a kingdom to house themselves and the elements and named this the central city (Canterlot, in which all governmental affairs would be held and also great ceremonies)

Discord originally was in charge of rising and bringing down the sun and moon of Equestria, however with him gone, the ponies who were still fillies decided to split the heavy work load. Celestia inherited the sun, in which she would bring the morning and sunset, and Luna inherited the moon, in which she would bring the dusk and the dawn. As the ponies grew older Celestia began to take more of the glory and appraisal of the ponies. She would leave Luna at home during the day to go celebrate with the inhabitants of Canterlot from which they ruled. Luna would be put to housework or to study magic, promised that she would be allowed to play with the ponies at night when she was done with her studies. But the ponies were always asleep at night and Luna pleaded with her sister that it was unfair; however her sister refused to compromise. One night Luna stumbled upon a letter written to her from Discord tucked away in a dusty spell book, it read:

_**Dear Beloved Luna,**_

_**My you must have grown so much by now, you must be beautiful, is your sister still behaving? Of course she isn't, no pony can resist the power of running a government. Of course you are left at home while she goes out and plays. Luna darling, I know how much you want to be loved, and I loved you dearly I promise, more than your sister does of course. Don't you want to play with your friends, and go outside when it's bright and sunny? Feel the warmth on your back instead of your sister breathing down your neck. Well if you want to stop wasting time and start being a real princess like you were born to be, then follow these simple instructions.**_

On the back was a note of instructions on exactly how to overthrow Celestia. She took these to heart and began to plan her rebellion with several ponies whom she had befriended around the castle. With a powerful source of magic and spell book in hand she began her transformation into the formidable Nightmare Moon. One day, when her sister had returned from a day of leisure she confronted her. Shocked by her appearance and worried Luna would conquer her; Celestia used the Elements as a last resort to exile her and killed the ponies that followed in her footsteps. When the ponies of Equestria began spreading rumors and asking questions, she formed a yarn of Luna's malice and jealousy towards her and how she was going to kill her and make it night forever if she had not banished her from Equestria and locked her away on the moon. She assured the ponies that she would take on the responsibility of raising the sun and also the moon to keep balance amongst the kingdom.

And so she did for many years.


	2. Chapter 1: The Dreams

Chapter 1: The Dreams.

My heart was pounding rapidly, the wind running through my mane as I charged toward the battlefield. My hooves pounding against the red, cold earth as the ringing in my ears grew louder and my eyes turned to snow. A bright light flashed in front of me, clearing the ponies that were charging towards me in the heat of battle, no, this was no longer a battle. It was chaos, the one thing our dear princess that used to be had tried for so many years to prevent; now it was a slaughter.

Colts and fillies falling to feed the worms, pegasi soaring as if torpedoes charging for an enemy plane, unicorns impaling each other as they scramble to defeat the little that's left of humanity in the remaining few ponies . I charged through the battlefield, racing to find them, hoping and praying that they would halt this nonsense. Suddenly a bright light fell from the sky, crashing to the earth in front of me sending sparks and debris forward, cutting my pelt. The smoke and light faded away, and there on the ground, lay my heroes.

Equestria was not always so terrible. It used to be a bright beaming place, filled with happy ponies, a cheerful land in which every creature big and small wanted to visit. But now it was a mess, a death-land filled with rotting corpses and fires spread through the once peaceful meadows. Neither Sun nor moon rose over the plains and my heart had given up all hope that one day the world will return to the way it was when I was younger, but sometimes I look up at the dead sky and remember the sun, the stars, and the moon.

I remember me, before the war.

It was a quiet day in Ponyville, much like every day before the "Great Lunar War". I sat at my desk, reading carefully over books and studying spells as Celestia's most faithful student. It was a title I was honored to have. Suddenly a cheerful voice sprang from the window, still loud even though it was being shouted through glass. "Hey Twilight, wanna come play a new game? I love games do you love games? I love games!" Pinkie Pie's voice was always a cheerful voice to hear over my parchment. "Sure, just give me a second to put up my books." I chimed cheerfully over the excited ponies rambling. I watched as my horn glowed and placed the spell books high on the shelves. Spike, the dragon, was sleeping in the den. He was a baby dragon and as such needed his naps. I chuckled to myself as I looked at his sprawled body hanging as if a limp doll over the basket's side. I adjusted him from afar and pulled the blanket over top of him. He was like my son, and I took care of him as such.

I rushed outside to join the other ponies, my friends that I have grown close to over the many years I have spent away from Canterlot and at home with them here in Ponyville. They always had such bright and smiling faces no matter what predicament we were in. They stood now in a circle, Rainbow balanced a blue ball on her nose showing off to the rest of the crowd. I jumped into the spot seemingly reserved for me. "Alright, what are the rules?" I asked. Pinkie jumped in to answer "It's simple! Don't let the ball touch the ground or you're out!" Rainbow tossed the ball up and spun around swiftly with a tough kick. Applejack caught it with a hoof, bouncing it upwards and then pushing it forwards to a quiet Fluttershy who balanced it on her flank and then bounced it softly towards Pinkie who pushed the ball towards me with a quick punt. I looked up to catch it with my magic but something caught my attention, something abnormal. As I looked to the sky worryingly the ball zoomed past me, smacking rarity in the snout. "Oh my goodness Twilight Sparkle! Must you be so inattentive?" I paid no attention to her outburst or her small injury; my eyes were focused on the blue sky. "Is somethin' troublin' ya'?" Applejack spoke in. I returned the question, my eyes still focused on the sky. "Does that look weird to you guys, the moon is up there too but it's only ten a.m., usually the moon and the sun aren't visible together until the later evening." Fluttershy was the first to respond. "I suppose it is a bit peculiar." She said with a soft tone. "Ah, it's probably nothing!" Rainbow added. Applejack addressed me once more, "Is it a bad thang?" "I don't know." I answered. "But I want to find out." I turned around and sauntered back to my den with a sense of wonder. "Twilight, is it something we should be concerned about?" Rarity questioned, I replied, "No". It was a lie however, to keep them quiet. "You see, Twilight says it's alright so then it must be fine." And then a pang of guilt struck my heart.

I pulled apart my entire library, books upon books were scattered across the floor of my room. I was dazed and weary, my eyes were sore from pacing the pages of my books and a song of longing to know what this means playing again and again in my head. I kicked a boot across the floor and lay down on my bed, covering myself with heavy blankets hoping to sleep away my defeat.

That night I had a nightmare, the ponies were killing each other in a vicious battle, no sides. In the sky two dragons breathed fire across the land ending the battle, and killing every pony that remained in the battlefield. In the background I heard Rarity screaming "You said it would be alright Twilight, you said it wasn't anything to worry about! Now save us Twilight! Save U-"and then the voice was drowned with a vicious roar and a violent flame came across me.

I woke with a scream, my coat covered in sweat and a dark night drenched over me. I heaved and caught my breath from the awful nightmare. I looked around my room; everything seemed to be intact, well, the same way it had looked before I went to sleep. The books were still scattered all over my floor and my room was completely disheveled. I suddenly heard a clanging noise from across the room. I gasped in fright and hid underneath my covers, only to find that my ghost was in fact Spike gathering a midnight snack…er…meal. He looked towards me, the shocked look still on my face. "What? I was hungry." I laughed, it was a silly fear, and I probably wasn't lying. It was nothing to worry about.

The rest of the night was filled with reoccurring nightmares of battlefields and war, fire and death, and my friends dying one by one. I tossed and turn and needless to say didn't get much sleep. The fifth nightmare I woke with a jump as I heard a knock at the door. I quietly walked over to the door, looking through the keyhole to find Applejack standing at my door with a concerned look on her face. I opened it swiftly, and the words ran out of her mouth, "Ah Can't Sleep." She cantered in and looked around wearily, "Twilight, I've been havin' these weird dreams, ah don't know what ta do, ah rekon it's on account of tha moon thangy. Can ya' help me?" I gasped. "I've been having these strange nightmares too; they're all about this war." "Rainbow speaks ta me in mine; she tells me that she can't trust me. Do ya' think e'ry pony is havin' these here dreams." "I don't know Applejack but I wish I could tell you." Applejack's ears perked up, "Ya' mean ya' don't know? But Ah thought ya' researched it." I hung my head in shame. "I did, but I couldn't find a thing, not a sentence about it, so I'm thinking that this has never happened before." Applejack looked frightened, "Don't tha princesses control tha moon an' tha sun? So wouldn't this all be there doin'?" A big smile appeared on my face, it had hit me! "Yes! The Princess! She'll tell me what's going on, and then finally we can put all these silly fears to rest." She gave a sigh of relief at the statement. "Good, 'cause Ima' tell ya' what, Ima' be mighty tuckered out in tha mornin'."

"Spike!" I called through the house. The morning had come and I was beyond tired, but that wasn't important, sending a letter allowing the princess to know I was visiting was of upmost importance at the moment. "Spike!" I called once again for my messenger, but alas no answer. "Huh, no use in looking for that lazy lug of a dragon, might as well just head on down to Canterlot. The princess wouldn't mind me showing up a little more unexpected than I had planned."

I tidied up the balloon and was refueling the lamp when suddenly I heard a small voice from behind me. "Are you going somewhere Twilight?" It was the ever so fragile Fluttershy. "Yes, I'm going to Canterlot to ask the Princess about the strange moon." She sighed. "Oh thank goodness, I was kept awake all last night by these horrible dreams." My ears perked. "Really, Fluttershy would you like to come with me to see the Princess?" "Oh if it's not too much trouble, then absolutely, I would love to." She said with a smile.

As we floated into the air, me adjusting the heat so we would soar neatly through the blue clouds dotted with morning sun, I proceeded to ask her about her strange dreams. "So what were they like? The dreams I mean." "Oh they were devastating, wars and fires, oh no, and all the animals were gone." I looked down at the floor wondering. "You know, me and Applejack had the same dreams too." "Oh, well so did Rainbowdash, I ran into her this morning and she looked really, really tired. She told me she had terrible dreams about a battlefield where her wings burnt off and she couldn't fly anymore." Suddenly she lowered her head. "You know Twilight, Pinkie was in my dreams, only she was crazy. She was threatening to kill every pony and use them to make cupcakes. Isn't that just awful?" "Yeah, but Pinkie would never do that." I reassured her, however after these past couple of nights, I wasn't too sure about where any pony was going to end up.

We floated on until we finally reached the elevated city of Canterlot. Beautiful as always but something felt different, it felt, wrong. I landed us safely on the pink stone and just as I did a herd of speeding horses dressed in shining gold armor raced above us and into the horizon. "They nearly blew me off this cloud! Why do you think they're in such a rush? And dressed in battle armor too?" The visions of war seemed to be more and more apparent, like it would actually take place. "Oh my, what fast horses." Fluttershy spoke softly in wonderment. I gestured for her to follow and not slow behind me, something was certainly wrong. The streets were nearly empty and guards stood ground at the front of the once peaceful city. I searched the cliffs and skies franticly for any sign of the Princess, any sign of hope. My stomach churned inside of me, and I began to wonder if I should have brought Fluttershy with me, she could be in utter danger here.

As we approached the doors of the castle I felt sick to my stomach. I was paranoid and anxious; I lived in a peaceful time and had never seen war or even any violence. I pushed the door open with a powerful nudge and entered the castle, Fluttershy ever so quietly following behind me. The gold stone beneath our hooves, and the royal hallway felt colder and darker than ever. Fluttershy nuzzled up close beside me and with a whisper told me that she was scared. I once again reassured her that it will be alright.

As we neared the end of the hallway I could hear Princess Celestia's voice and suddenly felt the world lift off my shoulders. I rushed forward and opened the door quickly and with a slam shouting "Princess! Princess! Please help us!" She stopped and brought her kind eyes to rest on me and Fluttershy who followed as closely as she could still. "Ah, Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student." I felt a sudden lightness in my chest, as if a weight had been taken from me. "Princess Celestia, yesterday I saw the moon next to the sun in the morning and ever sense me and all my friends have been having these weird dreams! They are about war here in Equestria! And on my way in I saw these war colts, is it true, is there a war in Equestria? And if so, then between who, and where?" I spoke so fast I wasn't sure if she had heard me. She looked at me a little dazed but that same understanding look she always had about her. "Twilight, dear, why are you so stressed about this?" I looked into her shining face. "Because, I want things to remain peaceful." She gave me a gentle smile and gestured for me to follow her. "Come, let me show you something." I looked at Fluttershy who was still tucked against my pelt as if she were glued. "Come on, don't be scared. It's the Princess." She didn't seem to be calmed any, but followed closely as I made my way behind Princess Celestia.

"My dear student, Twilight, remember when you and your friends destroyed Nightmare Moon and brought back my lovely sister Luna?" She spoke as we walked through the same painted hallway as when Discord was reawakened. The shining glass mirrors hung as a reminder to our friendship and also our loyalty to Equestria. "Yes, I do." "Well, when you awoke my sister we brought her back to the castle to stay and made a treaty of peace, stating that neither of us would try to oppose the other again and would be treated as equals. However, I should have known." She said as a look of distress crossed her face. "I should have known that Luna would once again become a power hungry fiend that would only want the kingdom for herself. I made a mistake on letting her rule aside me again even with the treaty. She is now trying to declare war on our fair Equestria, and I am doing everything in my power to not let this happen. She is moving her base, held on the Equestrian moon, closer to ours and is planning a battle strategy to hold the war on the plains of Equestria, which could be why the moon was visible so early in the day." I was taken aback that the sweet girl that seemed to only want to fit in and make people happy would try to start a war again with her own sister. Fluttershy's eyes were wide, with an emotion that I couldn't yet detect. "Is there anything we can do to help?" I offered and a smile once again crawled upon her face. "Yes, I would be more than happy to accept your assistance in fighting alongside my kingdom." My heart sprang with joy, I was going to assist the Princess in the war, and I could be her partner, her sidekick. Fluttershy's head sunk back to the frightened position it was in before. I couldn't help but wonder what was troubling her. She had never acted so reluctant to help the Princess before, and now we were receiving such a large honor and she seemed more wary and frightened than ever. "Mrs. Fluttershy, would you like to help me as well? You could take care of the ponies and other creatures if there is to be a war, you could be our nurse." Fluttershy gave a slight whisper "Yes, that sounds fine." And a cautious smile crept across her withdrawn face.

"Fluttershy why were you so scared, you've never been like that with the Princess before?" I asked, our balloon floating high in the air as we departed from Canterlot, home to tell our friends of the adventure and the task we had just been bestowed by the fair Princess. I was enthusiastic and ecstatic with joy; however Fluttershy was still as withdrawn as she had been when we entered the castle. She looked towards the purple sky, half dotted with stars and the sun breathing its last breath over the horizon. "Twilight, I know you love the princess dearly and um… I would never try to change your opinion of her, gracious no, but I feel as if the Princess isn't being completely honest with us." I grew a concerned look. "You mean, you think the Princess is lying?" "Oh no, not lying just, well…yes lying. You see a kind gentlemen owl told me this morning that the members of the Princess's royal court went around when every pony was asleep to collect the baby dragons, they're going to raise them to fight against the Lunar army. But this kind Mr. Owl also informed me that Celestia was the one starting the attacks by making demands on Luna that she could never, ever fulfill. At first I didn't want to believe Mr. Owl, because Owl's can sometimes be really good storytellers even though they are quite wise, but after I saw the fast war horses and heard Celestia say that the war was going to probably happen, it made me believe Mr. Owl more and more. Then, on my way out of the castle, I overheard some royal guards talking about how they were going to raise the dragons fast enough to begin an attack on Luna's kingdom." "Don't be silly Fluttershy you're just being paranoid, the Princess is our friend and leader and she would never lie to us." Or would she? I was beginning to doubt my own faith in Equestria, but if I had nothing to believe in then what would be the point in moving forward. I had to help the princess, to save Equestria. "Spike's probably sitting at home eating a big gemstone sandwich." I said with an uneasy smile and a swift turn of my hoof. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about." And with that Fluttershy seemed to produce a genuine smile. "Oh thank goodness Twilight, thank you for that, I was just being paranoid. Everything will be just fine." "Yeah and maybe when I tell the others, everyone can rest their heads and get a good sleep tonight." But when we arrived in Ponyville, the little town was not the same.


End file.
